John W. Porter has no illusions about the difficulties ahead. As the newly appointed superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools, he faces: - A high-school dropout rate of roughly 50%. - Kindergartens where half the entering children come from single-parent homes with unwed mothers. - Absenteeism that averages almost 20%. - Academic achievement well below the national average. - A $160-million budget deficit, accumulated over the past 17 years. - A state-mandated cut of $50.

The parents of Detroit's most hard-core truants were summoned to meet with a prosecutor Thursday and threatened with 90 days in jail if they did not get their kids to class. The meetings were ordered for the parents of 66 mainly elementary school students--some of whom missed more than half of the last school year. "We have to somehow wake people up," said George Ward, Wayne County's chief assistant prosecutor. "Kids belong in school." To some, the idea is absurd. "How can you fault the parents?

President Bush declared his support Monday for all-male educational programs for urban black youth and said that he would support efforts to make such curricula legal if the federal courts find them to be otherwise. Thrusting himself into the center of one of education's hottest controversies, the President said that he is "impressed" by a Detroit public school program that placed black boys in special all-male "academies."

The rapists strike before dawn, while the sky is still a sore purple-gray and abandoned houses loom dark and derelict along the sleeping streets. They prey on girls. On schoolgirls, teens, walking alone to class. Tuesday night, police here arrested a man suspected in the rapes of six girls. "That makes us feel proud," Assistant Police Chief Charles Wilson said. But then he acknowledged: At least one other rapist is still on the prowl. A city on edge since September cannot yet rest easy.

Striking teachers and the school board agreed Monday on a tentative contract that could end a weeklong walkout over reforms sought by the schools chief hired to turn the troubled district around. Teachers could be back in school by Wednesday, and the district's 172,000 students would return Thursday, negotiators said. "I'm going to recommend to the teachers that they accept this contract," Detroit Federation of Teachers President John Elliott said.

Detroit's striking teachers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to return to work today, ending an extended summer vacation for 180,000 students. The teachers approved an extension of their old contract while they hold a ratification vote by mail on the agreement reached Monday between the school district and the 11,500-member teachers union. The students have missed six days of school. The teachers struck Aug.

School and union leaders reached a tentative contract agreement to end a 27-day teachers' strike that has kept 168,000 students out of class. The agreement was announced after four hours of negotiations between the school board and the Detroit Federation of Teachers, which represents 10,500 teachers. The agreement gives teachers pay increases of up to 7% over two years.

Detroit's city school system and the city teachers' union reached tentative agreement on a contract, ending a 17-day strike that had kept 11,500 teachers and 193,000 students out of classrooms. Classes may begin as soon as Monday, if teachers ratify the agreement, Detroit Federation of Teachers President John Elliott said. The union was seeking a 14% salary raise in a one-year pact.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund filed suit in U.S. District Court to block three all-male academies from opening in Detroit on Aug. 27. The suit was filed on behalf of Shawn Garrett and another single mother who wishes to remain anonymous.

Protesting what they called a racist federal court ruling against the creation of three all-male public schools in this nearly 90% black city, about 300 people gathered outside the federal building Wednesday to demand that the controversial schools be opened. The proposed programs, designed to address the crisis facing African-American boys, had garnered popular support in a community desperate to stop the steady stream of its young men flowing into the prisons and onto the streets.

Detroit's teachers ended a nine-day strike and finally welcomed back 180,000 students from summer vacation. The students lost six days of school to the strike by the 11,500-member union. The teachers agreed Wednesday to go back to work after the union and the school board reached a tentative contract over the Labor Day weekend. The teachers fought off such reform measures proposed by the board as merit pay and a longer school day. The teachers must ratify the deal.

Detroit's striking teachers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to return to work today, ending an extended summer vacation for 180,000 students. The teachers approved an extension of their old contract while they hold a ratification vote by mail on the agreement reached Monday between the school district and the 11,500-member teachers union. The students have missed six days of school. The teachers struck Aug.

Striking teachers and the school board agreed Monday on a tentative contract that could end a weeklong walkout over reforms sought by the schools chief hired to turn the troubled district around. Teachers could be back in school by Wednesday, and the district's 172,000 students would return Thursday, negotiators said. "I'm going to recommend to the teachers that they accept this contract," Detroit Federation of Teachers President John Elliott said.

Detroit's teachers went on strike Tuesday, wiping out the first day of class for 172,000 students and thwarting one of the nation's most ambitious attempts to overhaul a troubled school system. The 7,200 teachers walked out in defiance of Michigan law, one day after rejecting a 10-day extension of their old contract. It is one of the nation's biggest teacher strikes in years.

Most of Detroit's 10,500 teachers defied a judge's order to go back to work Thursday, and picketed noisily outside schools. Negotiations to end the 3 1/2-week-long strike resumed. Teachers said they were willing to stay on the picket line as long as it takes to win a contract, even though school was to have started Aug. 31. The strike has prolonged summer vacation for Detroit's 168,000 students.

Teachers in the city's public school district went on strike Monday, a move that threatened to cancel the start of classes for 168,000 students. Teacher strikes also began Monday in four other Michigan districts. In all, about 189,000 students and 11,680 teachers were affected. Teachers in Belvidere, Ill., also struck on Monday over salary differences. The walkout affects 276 teachers and 4,800 students. About 2,000 Detroit Federation of Teachers members voted overwhelmingly Monday to strike.

The parents of Detroit's most hard-core truants were summoned to meet with a prosecutor Thursday and threatened with 90 days in jail if they did not get their kids to class. The meetings were ordered for the parents of 66 mainly elementary school students--some of whom missed more than half of the last school year. "We have to somehow wake people up," said George Ward, Wayne County's chief assistant prosecutor. "Kids belong in school." To some, the idea is absurd. "How can you fault the parents?

The Board of Education has abandoned plans for all-male schools designed to keep black youths from dropping out, saying that the legal battles involved were too costly and probably could not be won. "We could not justify the expenditure of between $500,000 and $1 million of taxpayers' money on litigation we were . . . unlikely to win," board President Lawrence C. Patrick Jr. said Wednesday.